David Koerner posts to the NOGLSTP mailing list:
***********************************************************************
A12 Tuesday, Novemeber 24, 1992 *
_______________________________________________________________________
``AUSTRALIA OVERTURNS ITS BAN ON GAYS IN THE ARMED FORCES
From Reuters
SYDNEY, Australia--The Labor government, after months of debate, Monday
scrapped a ban on homosexuals joining the Australian armed forces, a spokeswoman
for Prime Minister Paul Keating said.
A late-night Cabinet meeting settled the issue. It had pitted Defense
Minister Robert Ray against Atty. Gen. Michael Duffy, who has been pushing for
the move on human rights grounds.
Ray had argued that homosexuals could threaten cohesion and morale in the
military. Service chiefs were vehemently against lifting the ban, a stance
backed by the National Federation of Defense Force Staff.
A Cabinet meeting in June reaffirmed the ban and endorsed military policy
that homosexual behavior would result in dismissal from the forces.
But a six-member Labor committee, appointed to review whether the ban
violated party policy and human rights covenants, voted 4 to 2 in September
for the prohibition to be lifted.
Labor sources said Duffy's case had been helped by the determination of
U.S. Presiden-elect Bill Clinton to allow homosexuals into the armed services,
despite strong opposition from U.S. military and religious groups.